LOGAN NAMES POLICE CHIEF

The Municipal Council has named a veteran local officer, Capt. Allen Nelson, as the city's police chief, to succeed retiring Chief Ferris Groll.

Mayor Newell Daines announced the appointment of Nelson, who has been with the Logan Police Department nearly 18 years and has been the department's second-ranking officer. Groll is scheduled to retire April 1."I see some negative implications in continuing to hire from inside, but it was the unanimous decision that Capt. Nelson is the person who can do the best job at this time for our police department and for Logan City," Daines said.

He said the decision to hire from within was not "perpetuating cronyism" because the department has a high level of sophistication.

"We have our share of crime. . . . But we do not have problems of graft or incompetence within our police department," Daines said. "I am confident that under our new administrator we will continue to have a police department that can stand up to any law enforcement agency in the state."